Duet - Commando 86
Original title: Duet
Alternative title: Commando 86
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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Appeared on side A of the compilation 6-Pak (Hit-Pak) from Elite.

After much delay and name changes (Commando '86 and Commando '87), this game was ultimately published on the 6-Pak compilation as 'Duet'.

Duet by Elite is an army game that is a mix of Gauntlet and Commando. The sprites and backgrounds are very similar to Commando, but the game play is very much like Gauntlet. You have to collect items, shoot enemies that regenerate from nests and find the exit to the next level. The graphics are quite simple and the game play isn't very original. I found playing it very repetitive and annoying at times. I prefer both Gauntlet and Commando to this. A nice idea to combine two games, but it doesn't really work that well in my opinion. Gauntlet fans may get something out of it though.

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Once upon a time Elite got the licence to produce Capcom's "Commando" for 8-bit home computers. This went rather well, and the C64 version is a classic. Then Elite decided to try to milk the licence some more and come up with this Gauntlet-inspired game (which were all the rage at the time) and call it "Commando 86". This was a bad idea. Capcom would have likely thrown a hissy-fit with the misuse of license, and not only that, the general public would have felt ripped off expecting this game to be a sequel to the excellent Commando - when this game is nothing like it. 

A game called "Commando 86" somehow made it out to the public, but I've never seen an original copy. I guess this early version managed to leak out of the programmer's office! Sometime later, another "Hit-Pak" compilation of games was released, and it's on one of them that this game - re-titled "Duet" - made it's only commercial entrance... advertised on the cover as a "free" game! 

Marketing-speak aside, what they were trying to say was that "Duet" is essentially "compilation-filler". The game does not seem to have been sold individually and was likely thrown into the compilation to try and recoup some losses from producing it in the first place! When a company is doing this with their games, you know that even *they* think the game sucks. (This feat would later be repeated by Domark with "Hard Drivin'" - but that's another story!) 

The Duet title screen is nothing special, but the music has a short cover of "Tubular Bells" (also known as the theme to "Halloween" and the "Exorcist" movies!). It's actually quite nice, but it gets cut off with a more generic theme 30 seconds into it. It's the only music in the game, because in-game sound effects are just DIRE. Pops, bangs, and this annoying tinkling and clanging noise when you run into enemies. It sounds like fingernails on a blackboard. MAKE IT STOP! 

The game itself is unusual for a Gauntlet, in that it has an actual ending. You are supposed to traverse 20 levels and collect secret documents (hidden in chests) in each. The documents are key to winning. If you get to the end without all documents, you will be sent back to try again! 

Of course there are enemies to stop you, including the obligatory soldiers, tanks, and fighter planes. You can shoot them to clear them out and much like Gauntlet, they have generators which you can shoot and destroy to stop them from breeding like rabbits. 

The environment contains brick walls you can shoot through, quicksand which will drain your energy, and hedge mazes to lose yourself in. Run out of energy and you are dead! It slowly saps away from you - like in Gauntlet - so you have to use your time and energy wisely. You musn't stand still! 

While ripping off Gauntlet, many of the in-game items were changed to suit the Commando theme. There is food (to keep you alive - but mind the poisoned bottles), dollars (for points), pliers (to cut through barbed wire, like keys for doors!), and various power ups which help you survive. In particular, there is a shield, smoke bomb, and nerve gas which will render the enemies mostly inert for a while - giving you a chance to get those documents and escape the level before they return to normal. 

This game is a lot more fun with two players playing simultaneously - in true "Duet" fashion - but you are both the same colour and can't tell each other apart! In fact it's hard enough to discern yourself from the enemy soldiers! Somebody wasn't paying attention at quality control.... 

Technically the game has it's share of faults. Half the screen is filled up with the score an information panel, which makes the visible map to the player very tiny indeed. The enemies spawn very quickly, often right under you, and then lurch at you. Collision detection with them and the walls is poor. If you don't carefully keep your distance they can get stuck on you and hurt you very quickly. 

Like Elvis said "Only fools rush in", and that's very true of this game. While you are given lots of paths in each map, there is mostly only one right way to navigate them - if you want to survive to the later levels that is. Each level has many dead ends and paths which will kill you off quickly with enemies. It will be trial and error until you work out the best way to navigate the maps to stay alive. Given that the mazes are not random at all, and since you have to rely heavily on the strategically placed power-ups to survive some sections, in order to win you actually have to map and plan all 20 levels. This is not like a Gauntlet game at all, and may even turn you off because you'll be repeating the early levels quite a lot unless you do plan ahead! Without planning you'll be having very short games - which is not too uncommon with Gauntlet either - except that the mazes won't be random each time. Repetition will drain your enthusiasm if the game's other faults haven't already. 

Overall though, there is still some short casual fun to be had here - especially with two players. However the aggressive spawning of the enemies, the poor collision detection - not to mention the ruthless and repetitive mazes - will turn a lot of people off not long after. The poor graphics and sound is the final nail in the coffin. 

Nope, this game is strictly for the Gauntlet fans, the avid cartographers, and the masochists... and then even if you do beat the game, the ending is an underwhelming let-down. Let's stick to Duets on the piano.

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